Wednesday, May 20, 2015

I Am Old But I Can Grow New Things

I got this card in the mail today and it made me smile so big, I had to share it.(Thank-you, Lulumarie! And for the other sweetnesses as well but mostly for you.)
It's been a good day of self-nurturing for me and when I say self-nurturing I do not mean bubble baths or manicures but instead, the walk, much digging in the dirt, a nap, some reading. Quiet.

I can't seem to get enough of being outside and working these days. Not just in the garden but clearing border grass which is as hard a chore as I know, moving plants about to be in better spots for their needs, transplanting baby phlox, watering and digging and weeding and patting and smoothing the earth. I also replanted okra. I think that the last seeds I planted were old and only a few came up. I picked beans and dug potatoes for our supper.

As I dug in the border grass around the hydrangea, Miss Buttercup came up to look for whatever bugs I had uncovered and I laughed as I watched her try to figure out how to eat a worm that was at least four inches long. She gave up and the worm wiggled away under some leaf mould.

Yes. This was exactly the day I needed. On my knees with sweat literally rolling off me in huge drops to fall on the ground where I was working. It is cleansing, it is purifying, it is ridiculously satisfying and enjoyable to me. To plant, to tend, to see growth- this makes me happy.

Well, time to go cook the supper. I am the Chicken Woman and I am good at one thing and that thing is not drywall. It is getting dirty. And now I've had a shower and my own chickens are ready to be let into the coop for their own supper before bedding down.

10 comments:

That is a fine card. If I'd had my camera with me at the car wash today, I'd have taken a picture of the very handsome large rooster who apparently lives there now. I'm not sure if he's a mascot or what, but there he stands, bold and nonchalant in the driveway, blocking the cars until one of the employees tells him to move. Definitely adds charm.

I had to look up drywall. It was what I thought it would be. I always think I have this English thing sussed and then I come here and have to look up a word. I love it.

I know I love digging in the dirt, but I can't bring myself to do it. It's the frogs, and the spiders, and the worms and the snails - not even oak snakes - that scare me off. Oh, and my laziness. But I should. I should. It's good for the soul, as you show.

We are in the same "must be outdoors" space indeed. I can't get enough of it. So I resent the 9 hours a day I must spend locked up inside. I tell myself it's ok, that it supports me so that I can spend the other hours outside. Sometimes that's enough. That and dreaming a different reality.

I try very hard to answer every comment I get. This is important to me because otherwise, it's not a dialogue. Sometimes life gets busy and I can't, but I do try.
Please e-mail me for any reason whatsoever at mmerluna@aol.com